[Beowulf] Degree

On 24 Oct 2012, at 16:09, Peter Clapham <pc7 at sanger.ac.uk> wrote:
> On 24/10/2012 15:46, Vincent Diepeveen wrote:
>> On Oct 24, 2012, at 3:19 PM, Hearns, John wrote:
>>>>> .
>>>>>> Thing is, I need some kind of degree in this stuff to do the kind of
>>> work I really want to do. Especially in Germany, organisations
>>> involved in HPC usually strictly require an advanced degree if you
>>> want to be paid.
>>>>>>>>> In the UK it is quite normal for people who want to gain
>>> qualifications
>>> whilst working to go through the Open University http://>>> www.open.ac.uk/
>> Most interesting
>>>> Isn't one of the many problems of the UK that the Feodal system from
>> some centuries ago is still
>> there in UK- you have to pay bigtime to get your PHD, whereas PHD
>> students over here get an income?
>>>>> No
>
What he said. Although the grant you get is usually an absolute pittance, so you're living on pasta and tomato sauce for three years.
The feudal system is long gone, except on the channel island of Sark which finally abolished the feudal system a few years ago... [to Wikipedia!] ah yes, it was changed in 2008. Although the residents don't seem to be too chuffed with its replacement. Besides, Sark is not part of the UK, but a self-governing part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which is a Crown Dependency, or something like that. Independent of the UK in all matters except for Foreign Policy and Defence. Same (or very similar) deal as the British Virgin Islands, I think.
Tim
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